'I used to watch Harry Enfield religiously. And The Fast Show was unmissable... ': Russell Howard's cultural favourites

The philosophical complexity of Nietzsche, the intensity of Radiohead or the utter daftness of Airplane? All three please, says the TV comic

Words of wonder

I spend a lot of time in airports and I use it reading philosophical tracts. I read the biography of 19th century American author Jack London and he was into Nietzsche’s concept of the übermensch. So then I read Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra and I started to wonder if that was what had inspired Hitler, not realising that the connection had been made years ago.

For a great novel I’d recommend Any Human Heart by William Boyd, which tells the story of a man through a series of diary entries. It’s absolutely extraordinary.

I read Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra and I started to wonder if that was what had inspired Hitler, not realising that the connection had been made years ago

My movie magic

The Royal Tenenbaums, with Gene Hackman as the selfish patriarch of dysfunctional family, is my favourite film. Like all of Wes Anderson’s work, it’s as deft as it is stylised and witty. One that nearly made it to the top of my list was Airplane!, which is just a great big, stupid, funny film I can’t help but laugh at.

The best thing I’ve seen recently was Nice Guys, an old-fashioned buddy movie with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe.

Airplane! is just a great big, stupid, funny film I can’t help but laugh at

Music to my ears

We were studying war poetry at school – Wilfred Owen and the like – when I heard Radiohead. The two felt as if they shared a similar intensity and The Bends and OK Computer are classics. I was on the Jonathan Ross chat show and Thom Yorke sang Karma Police within spitting distance of me. It was one of the defining moments of my life.

As for live music, I’ve seen Rufus Wainwright four times. He is special and his gigs tend to be treated reverentially.

I was on the Jonathan Ross chat show and Thom Yorke sang Karma Police within spitting distance of me. It was one of the defining moments of my life

My TV gold

I used to watch Harry Enfield religiously. And The Fast Show was unmissable, along with Bottom and, later, The Office, but my all-time favourite is a cult comedy from 2004 called Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, about a Stephen King-type author who takes himself too seriously. It only lasted six episodes but quite a few big Hollywood stars are obsessed with it. I know Ben Stiller is.

The Fast Show was unmissable, along with Bottom and, later, The Office

The art in my heart

I recently bought a painting from a gallery in Bondi Beach, Sydney, of the beach splattered in paint. I bought it on the spot.

The first thing of any value I ever bought was a Don Hunstein photo of Bob Dylan. It cost a grand but I loved it.

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What I can’t stand is rubbish contemporary art. I was in the Turner gallery in Margate and there was a goat’s head on a broomstick going round on wheels. It’s a broken town – challenging art is the last thing it needs.

The first thing of any value I ever bought was a Don Hunstein photo of Bob Dylan. It cost a grand but I loved it

Don’t touch that dial

I loved Mark and Lard’s show on Radio 1. They were genuinely funny while managing to be counter-cultural. I prefer podcasts over radio now. Why leave it to chance and have to endure Justin Bieber? There’s an excellent one by Stuart Goldsmith: The Comedian’s Comedian.

I loved Mark and Lard’s show on Radio 1. They were genuinely funny while managing to be counter-cultural

The play’s my thing

I’m not much for musicals or plays. The closest I think I have come is when I saw Cats, which became one of the saddest nights of my life – I felt so sorry for the actors. My mate loved it, though.

I’m not much for musicals or plays. The closest I think I have come is when I saw Cats, which became one of the saddest nights of my life – I felt so sorry for the actors. My mate loved it, though

Russell Howard’s new tour, ‘Round The World’, begins on March 1, russell-howard.co.uk